Individuals still filing at a rate of nearly one per day; men file at a 10:1 rate over women

Although three major presidential candidates have suspended their campaigns during the first three weeks of the New Year, men and women from across the country continue to file their paperwork for 2012 presidential runs on almost a daily basis.

A Smart Politics review of FEC data finds that through January 18th, a total of 332 individuals have filed a Statement of Candidacy for president for the 2012 election.

(A small handful of individuals have also erroneously filed a FEC Form 2 stating their desire to run for Vice-President).

The rate of filings has remained steady for the past five months - with 28 filing in September, 30 in October, 29 in November, 27 in December, and 15 through the middle of January.

A plurality of candidates are filed under the Republican banner - 123 of the 332 candidates overall, or 37.0 percent.

Another 69 have filed as independents (20.8 percent), with 36 Democrats (10.8 percent), 11 Libertarians (3.3 percent), five Greens (1.5 percent), and 36 from other third parties (10.8 percent) such as Socialist, Anti-Hypocrisy, Common Sense, Jedi, Justice, and After Party.

Another 52 candidates have filed without specifying their affiliation (15.7 percent).

As the GOP field of major presidential candidates has winnowed over the past few weeks, most new candidate filings in recent weeks have come from outside the Republican Party.

In fact, since December 1st, Republicans accounted for just six of the 42 total filings with 13 submitted by independents, five by Democrats and four by Libertarians.

Who Runs?

Men continue to dominate the filings of these obscure candidates, by more than a 10 to 1 margin over women.

To date, men have submitted 302 of the 332 Statements of Candidacy, or 91 percent, with just 30 by women, or 9 percent.

That ratio generally reflects the gender breakdown of the major Republican candidates running for president this cycle, which, at its peak, had 10 men (Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich, Ron Paul, Rick Santorum, Rick Perry, Jon Huntsman, Herman Cain, Gary Johnson, Buddy Roemer, and Thad McCotter) and one woman (Michele Bachmann).

Although she was the most well-known woman in the field, Congresswoman Bachmann wasn't the only female to passionately launch a presidential bid.

Though some 2012 presidential bids were short-lived, such as the 83-day run by Michigan U.S. Representative Thad McCotter in 2011, perhaps none have been as brief as that of Democrat Michael Bellows of Chicago, Illinois.

Bellows filed his Statement of Candidacy on November 7th, but just 18 days later changed his mind and sent the following letter to the FEC:

"I hereby give notice that I request to immediately withdraw and cancel my candidacy for President/Vice President. I have raised no funds whatsoever and I have made no expenditures whatsoever. Please remove my name from all active listing of candidates."

To date, candidates have filed from 44 states, the District of Columbia, and one U.S. territory.

The only states yet to generate a presidential candidate are Alaska, Idaho, Nebraska, North Dakota, Nevada, and Rhode Island.

California sits at the top of the leader board with 41 candidates, followed by Florida with 39, Texas with 34, Virginia and New York with 14, Missouri, Georgia, and Illinois with 11, and Arizona, Washington, and Pennsylvania with 10.

After adjusting for population, Washington D.C. generates the most candidate filings, with 9.97 per 1 million residents, followed by Delaware (3.34 per million), West Virginia (2.15), Florida (2.07), and Montana (2.02).

Overall, residents from states carried by John McCain have a 14 percent higher filing rate (1.166 per million) than those from states carried by Barack Obama (1.025 per million).

Collin Peterson remarked last month that he is leaning to run for reelection to Minnesota's 7th Congressional District in 2016. If he does and is victorious, he will creep even closer to the top of the list of the longest-serving U.S. Representatives in Minnesota history. The DFL congressman is only the sixth Minnesotan to win at least 13 terms to the U.S. House of the 135 elected to the chamber in state history. Peterson trails 18-term DFLer Jim Oberstar (1975-2011), 16-term Republicans Harold Knutson (1917-1949) and August Andresen (1925-1933; 1935-1958), and 14-term DFLers Martin Sabo (1979-2007) and John Blatnik (1947-1974). Andresen died in office, Sabo and Blatnik retired, and Knutson and Oberstar were defeated at the ballot box in 1948 and 2010 respectively. At 70 years, 7 months, 11 days through Monday, Peterson is currently the ninth oldest Gopher State U.S. Representative in history. DFLer Rick Nolan of the 8th CD is the seventh oldest at 71 years, 1 month, 23 days.

Congressman Nick Rahall's failed bid for a 20th term in West Virginia this cycle, combined with a narrow loss by Nick Casey to Alex Mooney in Shelley Moore Capito's open seat, means that West Virginia Democrats will be shut out of the state's U.S. House delegation for the first time in over 90 years. The Republican sweep by two-term incumbent David McKinley in the 1st CD, Mooney in the 2nd, and Evan Jenkins over Rahall in the 3rd marks the first time the GOP has held all seats in the chamber from West Virginia since the Election of 1920. During the 67th Congress (1921-1923) all six seats from the state were controlled by the GOP. Since the Election of 1922, Democrats have won 76 percent of all U.S. House elections in the Mountain State - capturing 172 seats compared to 54 for the GOP.